£1m pay cheque for king Joe

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He had been out of work for the last three months.

Now crowned King of the Jungle, life is going to get a lot busier for Joe Pasquale.

Following in the footsteps of previous winners of I'm A Celebrity ...Get Me Out Of Here! such as Kerry Katona and Tony Blackburn, the 43-year-old comic is likely to make at least £ 1million over the next few months from endorsement deals and TV shows.

Producers of the West End show Chicago are keen to secure his services - ironically, he was rejected for the part of lawyer Billy Flynn a year ago.

He is also considering offers to present a game show, star in a one-man comedy programme and even appear in a sit-com.

'Joe is a very versatile entertainer and will try his hand at anything,' said his tour manager Ray Tizzard. 'If he doesn't make a million in the next six months I will be very surprised.' In

addition, Jacob's Cream Crackers are interested in signing a deal with Pasquale after his continual use of the word 'Jacobs' to describe a certain part of his anatomy became one of the show's catchphrases.

Sales of crackers have soared in the last few weeks and the company is considering securing the comedian to promote their forthcoming 120th anniversary.

Pasquale's likely riches are a far cry from the world he left behind.

At the Unilever margarine factory in Grays, Essex, where he once worked and which still employs his brother Paul, there were celebrations at his victory.

Paul said: 'Joe is such a nice guy - he really does have a heart of gold.

'He always deserved to win. He had such a good attitude all the way through and, unlike some people, he never slagged anyone off.'

Pasquale beat finalists Paul Burrell and Fran Cosgrave on Monday night watched by a peak of 12million viewers - the highest audience for an entertainment show on any channel this year.

He endeared himself to the public with his zany sense of humour and by bonding with the Queensland camp's pet emus.

And it appears that wackiness was not just for the cameras. Mr Tizzard revealed that last year he and Pasquale

became ministers over the Internet.

'We saw that Robbie Williams had got ordained over the Internet and Joe just found the site for the Universal Light Church in the U.S. and signed us up,' said Mr Tizzard. 'Joe is now thinking of marrying me and my fiancee Michelle.'

Pasquale's second wife Debbie and his elder sister Julie joined him in Australia throughout the show and yesterday celebrated his victory with him.

Shaun Cornell, a close friend, said: 'I have just spoken to Joe and he was drunk. He hasn't gone to bed yet and is exhausted. He said all he wants now is a bath and decent food.'

Pasquale plans to fly back to his £ 500,000 home near Rochester in Kent tomorrow.

There will be little time to relax. He will travel to Essex to see his father, who has been in hospital with chest pains since the weekend, and on Monday is due to begin rehearsals in Birmingham for a panto.

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